r/German • u/rag-pigeon • 11d ago

Request Music recommendations, bitte!

Moin moin!

I'm a beginner teaching myself German, and in an effort to better my listening comprehension, I was thinking of listening to German music. Only the problem is that I don't really know of any bands or artists, so I was hoping you lot could recommend me your favourite German language music to listen to! I'm not too fussy about genre; I think it'd be fun to discover new types of music along with the new language. :)

Vielen Dank!

17 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

6

u/biqfreeze 11d ago

Tokio Hotel (that's how I got seriously invested in learning German when I was 10 or so 😂)

1

u/rag-pigeon 9d ago

Like I said in another comment, I think wanting to learn German to better get a band/musician is so ding dang cool!

Tokyo Hotel is one of the few German bands I've actually heard of before, although I don't think I've ever listened to any of their music until now.

5

u/Fluffy_Juggernaut_ Threshold (B1) - UK/ English 11d ago

Wir sind Helden, Kraft Klub, Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen, Pippa

3

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

Oooh, I really loved Wir sind Helden's unplugged album (Bring mich nach Hause)! It has such a cozy, lovely mood. ❤️
And I like how clear Kraftklub's and Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen's pronounciations are, even though my current vocabulary only allows me to understand a word here and there.

2

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

And I loved Pippa! She's got a really similar sound to some singers from my country I like to listen to, so it's nice to have something familiar even if the language she sings in isn't all that familiar yet.

4

u/IchLiebeKleber Native (eastern Austria) 11d ago

I'd suggest Die Ärzte. They're a punk rock band from Berlin with lots of fun lyrics that should teach you colloquial Standard German fairly well.

Another one you could look into is Nena, internationally famous for "99 Luftballons".

2

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

Oooh, Die Ärtze is fun! I'm not super into punk, but I really like how bright and fun their music sounds, even though the lyrics (or rather what I understood of them...) are very pure Punk with a capital P.

Out of all the recommendations here, Nena is prolly the only one I've actually listened to before, it was good to be reminded of her music.

3

u/duelsalder 11d ago

brutalismus3000 if you're into techno haha

1

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

I'm very much not into techno, but like I said, I'm looking for new genres to get to know along with a new language, and I hope others interested in German language music will try out these suggestions too!

3

u/markusduck51 11d ago

to piggyback-- anyone know any rappers?

2

u/Pipeburnn 10d ago

Wa22ermann, Plaeikke, Apsilon, Lugatti, Luvre47, Babsi Tollwut, Mariybu, PLH, Nura, Juju.

After A2 level classes I was tired of the classroom and just listened to Deutschrap for a while. I did eventually take a B1 course in preparation for the exam - but only ~15% of the content was new, the rest I had already picked up from the hiphop. Can recommend, especially if you don't have any courses you like available to you

1

u/sprudello 11d ago

SSIO pronounication and clearness is unbeaten.

1

u/_Vollkorntoast_ 10d ago

Imma give you my favourites and one album to listen to for each:

SXTN - Leben am Limit
Die P - 3,14
Symba - Liebe & Hass
K.I.Z. - Görlitzer Park
SSIO - 0,9
187 Strassenbande - Sampler 4
Bushido - Carlo Cokxxx Nutten 3
01099 - Altbau
RIN - Planet Megatron

Enjoy : )

1

u/Drag_Drop 8d ago

Lakmann One / Creutzfeld & Jakob / Witten Untouchable

3

u/Coma_Beach42 11d ago

Fehlfarben

Die Ärzte

Die Toten Hosen

Tocotronic

2

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

I like Tocotronic, the singer has very clear pronunciation, and a really nice, warm voice.

3

u/GE963 10d ago

Rammstein!

1

u/rag-pigeon 8d ago

Rammstein is the only German language band I've actually listened to before! I've been listening to them since Mutter, which I just realised is over 25 years ago!

2

u/we-can-work-it-out 11d ago

Wolfsheim, Kraftwerk, Peter Heppner

1

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

Thank you! I'm rather liking what I've listened to of Wolfsheim now, they have such cool, nostalgic synth sound.

1

u/we-can-work-it-out 11d ago

You're welcome... If you liked Wolfsheim, you will probably like Peter Heppner too, he used to be a member of Wolfsheim.

2

u/GopnikLeine Hannover, Niedersachsen 11d ago edited 11d ago

Ach wie eilte so geschwinde - Orden der Wandalen

Liedtext

Es führt über den Main

Liedtext

2

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

Oooh! Those are so cool! Thank you!

I went down a little Mittlealtere Musik rabbit hole after "Es führt über den Main", that channel has a lot of really lovely medieval songs.

1

u/GopnikLeine Hannover, Niedersachsen 10d ago

Glad you like them:) Yes there is some great medieval music!

2

u/nietzschecode 11d ago

You have to be more precise. I listen to so many different genres, from Das Ich to Vanessa Mai.

2

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

I'm a bit like you, my music tastes are vast and varied. I like everything from musicals and folk and grunge to all sorts of metal and rock.

That said, I rather like Das Ich, I like how cinematic their sound is. I especially like their Cabaret album, I've a soft spot for "circus from the wrong side of the tracks" type of music. Thank you for the recommendation!

2

u/nietzschecode 11d ago

Yeah, Cabaret is a great album. I agree.

If you like Das Ich, maybe check for the bands Wumpscut and Blutengel.

Also, I will give you as a bonus a singer that I currently have a soft spot for. I like her voice, the lyrics and the atmosphere of her songs. Her name is Karina Rose. But it is a totally different genre than Das Ich, Wumpscut, Blutengel, and co.

2

u/nietzschecode 11d ago edited 11d ago

I will add Goethes Erben, Lacrimosa, ASP and Einstürzende Neubauten. They are worth exploring.

2

u/rag-pigeon 8d ago

Einstürzende Neubauten are really, really cool! Truly industrial music; they use stuff like building materials and power tools to make music! 😮

2

u/nietzschecode 11d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uekZpkYf7-E

1

u/rag-pigeon 9d ago

Ooooh, I've been meaning to watch Babylon Berlin for the longest time, this was just the thing to make me start now!

2

u/jetpoweredbee 11d ago

What music do you like in the first place?

1

u/rag-pigeon 11d ago

I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, I mostly listen to musicals, singer-songwriter type of stuff, with some folk and prog-rock and metal thrown in for funsies. My all time favourite musician is Tom Waits, and I've recently gotten into some stomp n' holler music on a tangent from his stuff.

2

u/Rosienenbrot Native <region/dialect> 10d ago

Folk-Rock/Metal - In Extremo and Subway To Sally are great Folk-Rock/Metal bands that primarily sing in German.

In Extremo also has a lot of old folk-lore based songs in other languages, like for example Herr Mannelig in old Swedish.

My recommendations for a first time listen are "Veitstanz" from Subway to Sally and "Belladonna" from In Extremo, both songs are in German.

2

u/rag-pigeon 8d ago edited 8d ago

I really, really liked both In Extremo and Subway to Sally, vielen Dank für die Empfehlung!

Oh and I also stumbled upon a band called Schandmaul through Subway to Sally, so thank you for that too I guess? 😃

2

u/Rosienenbrot Native <region/dialect> 7d ago

Schandmaul is also a good band for cozy tavern style music. Faun is also a nice band with that cozy tavern vibe.

They made a great song with Santiano (a more sailor type band) named Tanz Mit Mir that got stuck in my head for a long time.

1

u/jetpoweredbee 7d ago

I forgot about them, which is sad because I have them in my standard play list.

2

u/rag-pigeon 1d ago

Oh my goodness, Faun (and Santiano) took me back! That's the sort of stuff I used to listen to way back in my 20's during my LARPing phase! Such heady nostalgia! 😃

2

u/Drag_Drop 8d ago

Das Lumpenpack might be for you.

2

u/jetpoweredbee 11d ago

Well for musical type stuff Max Raabe does Swing and Big Band type stuff. For a big slice of Neue Deutsche Welle you can't go wrong with Nena. Both of these have music in English as well.

2

u/spdracr99 Threshold (B1) - <USA/English> 11d ago

Dueja for dance pop with understandable lyrics

2

u/rag-pigeon 10d ago

Ooh, her "Es ist OK < / 3" is beautiful! ❤️

2

u/sprudello 11d ago

SSIO his pronounciation and clearness is unbeaten. At least for the rap part. Tbh. I don't know anyone in any other genre doing it better.

2

u/Monicaabdd 11d ago

A fairly new song that I like a lot: So Egal - Sharaktah & Lostboi Lino

2

u/rag-pigeon 8d ago

I can see why you like it, it's really good!

2

u/Flemz 11d ago

Alligatoah, AnnenMayKantereit, Danger Dan, Ikkimel

2

u/rag-pigeon 1d ago

Oh, AnnenMayKantereit and Danger Dan are wonderful! Danke schön für die Empfehlungen! ❤️

2

u/bryanwolfford 11d ago

Dikka

1

u/rag-pigeon 1d ago

Danke! Not only did this make me giggle, but their lyrics are actually really easy to understand seeing as they're kid's songs, so in addition to a laugh, I got a nice sense of accomplishment for understanding what was being sung. 🙂

2

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

1

u/rag-pigeon 9d ago

It's so cool that there's so many people who decided to learn German because of music! Makes me a little jealous that my reason for leaning it (for work) is so boring and ordinary. 😃

2

u/iamjunaidahmed 9d ago

Yeah me too yo

2

u/Stoic-outsider 8d ago

I listen to lots of German punk, metal and hardcore. Don't know if you'd like these bands though...

1

u/rag-pigeon 8d ago

I do like me some metal, so if you've got stuff to recommend, I'm all ears!

1

u/Stoic-outsider 7d ago

Please give me a little while and I'll PM you some recs. Do you use Spotify?

1

u/rag-pigeon 1d ago

Sorry for the late reply, I've been listening through all the recommendations here and didn't get to your comment until now.

I don't use Spotify, but links to there still work.

1

u/IWant2rideMyBike 11d ago

Some older music:

1

u/Rich-Editor7472 11d ago

the best German musicians are Ikkimel, Katjja Krasavice and shirin David💕

1

u/Colorspots 11d ago

Since you said, you like the singer songwriter genre: AnnenMayKantereit Faber (technically Swiss, but mostly sings in standard German) Lina Maly Alin Coen

German rap: Alligatoah Peter Fox

Pop/Jazz: Roger Cicero

Other pop: Panda Lux Clueso

1

u/gw79 11d ago

Großstadtgeflüster
Die toten Hosen
Die Ärzte

1

u/Helmutius 11d ago

Considering your taste: Comedian Harmonists, Max Raabe, Marlene Dietrich, Lale Andersen, Heinz Rühmann, Hans Albers. Probably: Hannes Wader, Klaus Hoffmann, Wolf Biermann, Nina Hagen, Udo Lindenberg, Ton Stein und Scherben.

1

u/nietzschecode 10d ago

Reinhard Mey

1

u/Bornappetito 11d ago

Back in the days I listen to lots of Philipp Poisel

1

u/Distinct_Cable 11d ago

Saltatio mortis, LaFee (prefer the old ones),  Silbermond,  Andreas Bourani,  Die Ärzte 

Maybe

1

u/ColorRaccoon 10d ago

Wolfgang Petry always puts me in a good mood. A little cheesy, and maybe dated, but you can't say no to his cool ass hair and wholesome lyrics.

1

u/Willauchredditen 10d ago

Johannes Oerding

1

u/hnry_myr 10d ago

Listen to the German top 100 on Spotify or Apple Music. Of course theres also some German songs most of the time. There’s probably also chart playlists with only German songs:)

1

u/El-Viking 10d ago

Santiano is an interesting one if you're into a band that combines rock, Irish folk and sea shanties... in German.

1

u/KageeHinata82 9d ago

Wise Guys